Light Layer top

I love this time of year, the light turns slightly golden and there is a nip in the air, the time to layer is here. I looked through my cupboard and realized that it was woefully lacking in the light layer department. Having wanted to make something to help with this I cut out a pattern from Alabama Studio Sewing + Design book. I also wanted to try out this way of embellishing for the Year 3 class.

The pattern in the book for a cover up was a short one which I did not want to use, a bolero. I used the t shirt pattern which had the length that I wanted and since it would not have a fastening in the front I cut down the middle of the pattern and added a few inches for the front facing. I also used a bell sleeve pattern from the book which is nice though rather long (I ended up gathering it up from the side hem a bit.)... I had some of this fabric left from the mountain of t shirt fabric bought on a whim :) A lovely light black with a goldish tint to it. It does'nt have tons of stretch to it which always made to re think using it for t shirts, perfect thought for this project. 

I cut the basic pattern out and then used fabric gathers to accentuate it 

It took me a few nights in front of the TV and at little miss's ballet class to get this done but it feels lovely to wear, more than just because I made it! It feels special. One last look at my current favorite make... More of this on the way. 

Simplicity K2588

I love this pattern, it is as simple to make as it appears and honestly I don't find that true of many patterns. Those instruction sheets sometimes do my head in. This one had me puzzled but not in a 'tear my hair out' way. More in a 'hmmm lets get to work' way which is great. 

I was pushed to make this as I had a workshop participant interested in making it and I thought it better that the head scratching happened before rather than during the workshop. LOL. 

My finished dress...

I  ended up adding a metal zipper, (it was the only 22" zip I had that matched and it was 10 pm!) and changed it to go right to the top of the neck band instead of just under and hand sewing hooks and eyes as instructed. There are lots of features to this pattern that are really great. So many different variations, next time the full skirt...